This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

"These weren't the winning numbers yesterday, were they?"

Wang Xiaoer, refusing to believe it, looked at the winning numbers on the machine again.

Although I can't remember them all, these numbers are definitely not the winning numbers from last night's draw!

"What do you mean?"

The boss frowned, leaned closer, and his surprise was quickly replaced by suspicion.

He grabbed the lottery ticket, held it up to the light, and examined it carefully, turning it over and over.

"Kid, look carefully!"

The shopkeeper slammed the lottery ticket onto the counter and pointed to a line of small print on it.

"The ticket itself is fine, but the purchase date was last Tuesday! Of course, the winning numbers are different from yesterday's!"

"Are you kidding me? It's just a third prize."

Last Tuesday?

These three words were like a bolt of lightning, cleaving through Wang Xiaoer's chaotic thoughts.

A scene clearly appeared in his mind.

I woke up this morning in that cheap little hotel.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a piece of paper, slightly trembling in the morning breeze, stuck in the gap under the windowsill.

He was half asleep at the time and subconsciously thought it was the discarded ticket he had casually tossed on the bedside table the night before that had been blown by the wind to the windowsill.

So he went over, picked it up, smoothed it out, and put it in his pocket.

Looking back now...

His own invalid ticket had probably already been thrown into the trash bag by the cleaning lady.

This must have been left behind by the previous guest, no, it must have drifted in through the window!

Wang Xiaoer opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

How is he supposed to explain this?

He said that when he went out in the morning, he picked up a lottery ticket from under the window and didn't know who it belonged to. Then, on a whim, he took it to claim the prize and won three thousand yuan.

If this gets out, not only will the boss not believe it, but even he himself won't believe it!

At this moment, Zhang Chen, who had been watching the show from outside the door with his arms crossed, slowly walked in.

He squeezed to the counter, picked up the lottery ticket, and glanced at it.

"Boss, don't get so angry."

He handed the lottery ticket back to the shop owner and then looked at him with a grin.

"This guy just woke up and won the lottery again. His head's probably all messed up. Could you please help him redeem it?"

The shopkeeper, too lazy to waste any more words, counted out a thick wad of banknotes from the drawer and slammed them onto the counter in a huff.

"Take it!"

Three thousand yuan, thirty brand-new red banknotes.

Wang Xiaoer stared blankly at the money, reached out his hand, and then withdrew it.

He felt the money was burning his hands.

"Take it! What are you standing there for?"

Zhang Chen nudged him with his elbow.

Wang Xiaoer then seemed to wake from a dream and grabbed the wad of money.

The money felt so real, yet everything that happened felt like an absurd dream.

"I...I really...won the lottery?"

He turned to look at Zhang Chen, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

I went there specifically to buy it, but it didn't work.

I picked it up, and it turned out to be a lucky one.

For the first time, he had a direct understanding of the "good fortune" that Zhang Chen had mentioned.

"Let's go, let's go."

Zhang Chen put his arm around Wang Xiaoer's shoulder and swaggered out of the lottery shop amidst envious glances from the crowd.

Even after walking quite a distance, Wang Xiaoer still felt like he was walking on cotton.

He looked down at the wad of money in his hand, then looked up at the sky.

The sky was still the same sky, gray and hazy.

But he felt that the whole world had changed.

An invisible force seemed to be hovering around him, forcibly twisting the trajectory of his life in a way he couldn't understand.

This feeling both excited and frightened him.

"Master, I..."

He wanted to say something to Zhang Chen, but he didn't know what to say.

"Alright, enough with the Taoist priest stuff. Don't I have a name? From now on, just call me Brother Chen."

Zhang Chen interrupted him, then took half the money from his hand and stuffed it into his own pocket.

"Everyone who sees windfall gains gets a share; that's the rule."

He patted Wang Xiaoer on the shoulder, his smile carrying a deeper meaning.

"Do you believe me now?"

"The bad luck you've accumulated over ten lifetimes of poverty will turn into ten or even a hundred times the good fortune once it's reversed! Finding money on the street will just be an appetizer."

"There are many more bizarre things to come!"

Wang Xiaoer remained silent, carefully putting the remaining 1,500 yuan into his pocket.

He believed it.

He had no choice but to believe it.

The two did not linger in the town for long. After saving some money and buying some food, they went to the bus stop to prepare to return to the village.

Wang Xiaoer sat by the roadside, clutching his bank card, his mind in turmoil.

He needs time to process all of this.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chen received a phone call as soon as he squatted down.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Chen grabbed Wang Xiaoer's arm, his face showing a hint of excitement.

"Hey, don't go back to the village, I've got some work to do!"

"Would you like to come with me and broaden your horizons?"

Wang Xiaoer directly refused Zhang Chen's invitation.

"I'm not in your line of work, you go by yourself."

However, Zhang Chen clung to him like glue, shamelessly putting his arm around his shoulder.

"Hey bro, it's not like I'm asking you to do it."

"You're just there to make an appearance; you can just stand on the sidelines."

"This amount will be paid after it's done!"

Zhang Chen held up two fingers and waved them in front of Wang Xiaoer's eyes.

Wang Xiaoer frowned: "Two hundred?"

"Bullshit! Twenty percent!"

Zhang Chen's voice was low, filled with barely concealed excitement.

"Working as a big boss in the suburbs is very lucrative!"

Wang Xiaoer's heart skipped a beat.

In the past, for the sake of making a living, he would have agreed without hesitation, even if it was only two hundred, let alone two percent.

But now that he has money, and thinking about Zhang Chen's unreliable character, Wang Xiaoer immediately calmed down.

He pushed Zhang Chen's hand away, his attitude very firm.

"I'm not going."

"I don't understand your mystical stuff, and I don't want to understand it."

Zhang Chen's face fell, and he put on a pitiful expression.

"Brother Er, I had no choice."

"The boss specifically asked for a 'master,' and if I went alone, I would seem weak and unable to command respect."

"You're currently riding high on good fortune. Just standing there exudes an aura of dominance; even demons and monsters would give you a wide berth!"

Seeing that Wang Xiaoer remained unmoved, he simply used his trump card.

"All meals and accommodation included! Five-star treatment!"

"Just think of it as a trip to broaden your horizons. It's better than spending your whole life in that run-down village, right?"

"Just imagine, a big villa, soft beds, and a private chef! The food they make is not what you get in a regular restaurant!"

Wang Xiaoer's Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed.

Finally, with the intention of watching the excitement and getting a free meal, he reluctantly nodded.

"It's a deal, I'm just going to make an appearance."

"Alright!"

The two quickly boarded a long-distance bus heading to the outskirts of the city.

The carriage was filled with a strange smell, a mixture of sweat and instant noodles.

Wang Xiaoer squeezed into a window seat, watching the fields and villages rushing past outside, and felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

This is the first time in twenty years that he has traveled this far.

"Brother Chen, tell me the truth."

Wang Xiaoer turned his head to look at Zhang Chen, who was sitting next to him with his legs crossed, humming a tune.

"What kind of work is this? Is there really something dirty involved?"

"rest assured."

Zhang Chen took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to Wang Xiaoer.

Wang Xiaoer waved his hand, saying he wouldn't.

Zhang Chen lit one for himself, took a deep drag, and amidst the swirling smoke, his expression appeared somewhat inscrutable.

"There's a villa area called 'Royal Dragon Bay' on the outskirts of the city, where all the wealthy people live."

"My client's surname is Liu. He's in real estate. Something strange has been happening in his family lately."

"They say that every night around midnight, the sound of abacus beads clicking could be heard coming from the study, but when the family went to check, there was nothing there."

"His wife also said that she always felt someone blowing air conditioning next to the bed when she slept at night, which scared her so much that she went back to her parents' house to stay."

Wang Xiaoer felt a chill run down his spine.

"Is this really that weird? Are you even capable?"

He couldn't help but look at Zhang Chen with suspicion.

Zhang Chen choked on the smoke, coughed twice, and patted his chest loudly.

"Don't worry, leave the professional work to the professionals! I, Daoist Master, am a direct descendant of Longhu Mountain!"

"Hey! What kind of look is that?"

Seeing Wang Xiaoer's suspicious look, Zhang Chen also lost his temper and threw the cigarette butt out the window.

"Alright! Today I'll show you what I'm made of!"

As he spoke, he mysteriously pulled something out of his tattered cloth bag.

That was a compass.

It's about the size of a palm, and has a yellowish-brown color all over. It looks like it's made of cheap plastic, and the markings and pointers on the dial are printed in a blurry way.

The edge of the compass even had some rough edges that hadn't been properly cleaned.

Wang Xiaoer's eye twitched.

This thing looks even cheaper than the children's toys sold in the two-dollar stores in town.

He took a deep breath, turned his head to the window, and decided not to talk to this unreliable guy anymore.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen had no choice but to awkwardly put the rest of the items back in his pocket.

The long-distance bus stopped under an impressive bus stop in the suburbs.

As soon as they got out of the car, a black sedan, so shiny it reflected their image, silently pulled up in front of them.

The car window rolled down, and a middle-aged man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses leaned out.

"Is that Master Zhang?"

The man's gaze swept over Zhang Chen's faded Taoist robe and Wang Xiaoer's ill-fitting old clothes, a hint of barely perceptible doubt flashing in his eyes.

Zhang Chen acted as if he hadn't seen it, and waved his hand casually.

"It is indeed I, Boss Liu. I've kept you waiting."

He opened the car door, plopped inside, and didn't forget to call out to Wang Xiaoer.

"Waiter, get in the car."